Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A blockchain-based approach using smart contracts to develop a smart waste management system

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Rapid urbanization and poor management of solid waste in cities have escalated to unfavorable environmental impacts. This paper uses blockchain technology to propose a smart waste management system for mitigating the damaging impacts of traditional waste management services. This contributes to a healthy environment by optimizing the storage, collection, and disposal of solid waste. Blockchain, though in its budding stage, is believed to have a transformative impact on the world economy by enabling near real-time agreement of any transactions in a peer-to-peer and distributed manner. The growth of smart waste management systems using the Internet of Things (IoT) has been prevalent, but the use of blockchain in this application area is almost negligible. This paper identifies the problems associated with the traditional waste management system, defines algorithms that underpin the proposed smart waste management system, and compares the two systems by discussing how the latter alleviates the problems of the traditional waste management system. This paper utilizes smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain to design a proof of concept of the proposed smart waste management system, and hence, the system can be measured at Technology Readiness Level 4 (TRL 4). This paper also calculates the cost of deploying the smart contracts onto the Ethereum private test net.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

Availability of data and material

Not applicable (it is not a data-driven approach. We propose to use a blockchain-based approach to develop a smart waste management system using smart contracts.)

References

  • (2017) Segregation of waste using sensors. http://wasteseparatorpingu.blogspot.com/2017/07/segregation-of-waste-using-sensors.html

  • (2017) Tenx payment platform whitepaper. https://www.tenx.tech/ whitepaper/tenx_whitepaper_final.pdf

  • (2018) Cycled. https://cycled.no/

  • (2018) Sensor based sorting of waste. https://www.valluriorg.com/blog/waste/sensor-based-sorting-of-waste/

  • (2018) Swachhcoin. https://swachhcoin.com/

  • Al Mamun MA, Hannan M, Hussain A, Basri H (2013) Wireless sensor network prototype for solid waste bin monitoring with energy efficient sensing algorithm. In: 2013 IEEE 16th international conference on computational science and engineering, pp 382–387. IEEE

  • Antonopoulos AM, Wood G (2018) Mastering ethereum: building smart contracts and dapps. O’Reilly Media

  • Avila-Torres P, Caballero R, Litvinchev I, Lopez-Irarragorri F, Vasant P (2018) The urban transport planning with uncertainty in demand and travel time: a comparison of two defuzzification methods. J Ambient Intell Humaniz Comput 9(3):843–856

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benet J (2014) Ipfs-content addressed, versioned, p2p file system. arXiv preprint, arXiv:14073561

  • Bharadwaj AS, Rego R, Chowdhury A (2016) IoT based solid waste management system: a conceptual approach with an architectural solution as a smart city application. In: 2016 IEEE annual India conference (INDICON), pp 1–6. IEEE

  • Biswas K, Muthukkumarasamy V (2016) Securing smart cities using blockchain technology. In: 2016 IEEE 18th international conference on high performance computing and communications; IEEE 14th international conference on smart city; IEEE 2nd international conference on data science and systems (HPCC/SmartCity/DSS), pp 1392–1393. https://doi.org/10.1109/HPCC-SmartCity-DSS.2016.0198

  • Bonomo F, Durán G, Larumbe F, Marenco J (2012) A method for optimizing waste collection using mathematical programming: a Buenos Aires case study. Waste Manag Res 30(3):311–324

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buterin V et al (2014) Ethereum white paper: a next generation smart contract & decentralized application platform. First version 53

  • Chen Y (2018) Blockchain tokens and the potential democratization of entrepreneurship and innovation. Bus Horiz 61(4):567–575. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2018.03.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cherkassky BV, Goldberg AV, Radzik T (1996) Shortest paths algorithms: theory and experimental evaluation. Math Program 73(2):129–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crosby M, Pattanayak P, Verma S, Kalyanaraman V et al (2016) Blockchain technology: beyond bitcoin. Appl Innov 2(6–10):71

    Google Scholar 

  • Dutta R, Das A, Dey A, Bhattacharya S (2020) Blockchain vs GDPR in collaborative data governance. In: International conference on cooperative design, visualization and engineering, pp 81–92. Springer

  • Floyd RW (1962) Algorithm 97: shortest path. Commun ACM 5(6):345

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallardo A, Carlos M, Peris M, Colomer F (2015) Methodology to design a municipal solid waste pre-collection system. A case study. Waste Manag (Oxford) 36:1–11

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ghose M, Dikshit AK, Sharma S (2006) A GIS based transportation model for solid waste disposal—a case study on asansol municipality. Waste Manage (Oxf) 26(11):1287–1293

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Giusti L (2009) A review of waste management practices and their impact on human health. Waste Manag (Oxf) 29(8):2227–2239

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Glouche Y, Couderc P (2013) A smart waste management with self-describing objects. In: The second international conference on smart systems, devices and technologies (SMART’13), IARIA, Rome, Italy. https://hal.inria.fr/hal-00924270/document

  • Goldberg AV, Harrelson C (2005) Computing the shortest path: a search meets graph theory. SODA 5:156–165

    Google Scholar 

  • Guerrero LA, Maas G, Hogland W (2013) Solid waste management challenges for cities in developing countries. Waste Manag (Oxf) 33(1):220–232

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gupta N, Bedi P (2018) E-waste management using blockchain based smart contracts. In: 2018 international conference on advances in computing. Communications and informatics (ICACCI), pp 915–921. IEEE

  • Gupta YS, Mukherjee S (2019) A study on smart cities using blockchain. In: International conference on innovation in modern science and technology, pp 111–118. Springer

  • Hong I, Park S, Lee B, Lee J, Jeong D, Park S (2014) IoT-based smart garbage system for efficient food waste management. Sci World J

  • Hoornweg D, Bhada-Tata P et al (2012) What a waste: a global review of solid waste management, p 15. World Bank, Washington, DC

  • Iansiti M, Lakhani KR (2017) The truth about blockchain. Harvard Bus Rev 95(1):118–127

    Google Scholar 

  • Idelberger F, Governatori G, Riveret R, Sartor G (2016) Evaluation of logic-based smart contracts for blockchain systems. In: International symposium on rules and rule markup languages for the semantic web, pp 167–183. Springer

  • Kittali RM, Sutagundar A (2016) Automation of waste segregation system using PLC. IJET: Int J Emerg Technol 7(2):265–268

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumar V, Pandit R (2013) Problems of solid waste management in Indian cities. Int J Sci Res Publ 3(3):1–9

    Google Scholar 

  • Li JQ, Borenstein D, Mirchandani PB (2008) Truck scheduling for solid waste collection in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil. Omega 36(6):1133–1149

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu Y, He D, Obaidat MS, Kumar N, Khan MK, Choo KKR et al (2020) Blockchain-based identity management systems: a review. J Netw Comput Appl 166:102731

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Longhi S, Marzioni D, Alidori E, Di Buo G, Prist M, Grisostomi M, Pirro M (2012) Solid waste management architecture using wireless sensor network technology. In: 2012 5th international conference on new technologies. mobility and security (NTMS), pp 1–5. IEEE

  • Maimoun M, Madani K, Reinhart D (2016) Multi-level multi-criteria analysis of alternative fuels for waste collection vehicles in the United States. Sci Total Environ 550:349–361

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Makhdoom I, Abolhasan M, Abbas H, Ni W (2019) Blockchain’s adoption in IoT: the challenges, and a way forward. J Netw Comput Appl 125:251–279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mamun M, Hannan M, Hussain A, Basri H (2014) Real time bin status monitoring for solid waste collection route optimization. IET

  • Mankins JC (1995) Technology readiness levels: a white paper. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/codeq/trl/trl.pdf

  • Matter A, Dietschi M, Zurbrügg C (2013) Improving the informal recycling sector through segregation of waste in the household—the case of Dhaka Bangladesh. Habitat Int 38:150–156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2012.06.001 (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0197397512000276)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGhin T, Choo KKR, Liu CZ, He D (2019) Blockchain in healthcare applications: research challenges and opportunities. J Netw Comput Appl 135:62–75

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nakamoto S (2008) Bitcoin white paper. https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf

  • Nuortio T, Kytöjoki J, Niska H, Bräysy O (2006) Improved route planning and scheduling of waste collection and transport. Expert Syst Appl 30(2):223–232

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pallottino S (1984) Shortest-path methods: complexity, interrelations and new propositions. Networks 14(2):257–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pilkington M (2016) 11 blockchain technology: principles and applications. In: Research handbook on digital transformations, vol 225

  • Poon J, Team O (2017) Omisego decentralized exchange and payments platform. White paper, https://whitepaperdatabase.com/omisego-omg-whitepaper

  • Prajakta G, Kalyani J, Snehal M (2015) Smart garbage collection system in residential area. IJRET: Int J Res Eng Technol 4(03):122–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rathore S, Kwon BW, Park JH (2019) BlockSecIoTNet: blockchain-based decentralized security architecture for IoT network. J Netw Comput Appl 143:167–177

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raveesh A, Mona C, Jayveer S (2015) Waste management initiatives in India for human well being. Eur Sci J 7881:1857–7881

    Google Scholar 

  • Satyamanikanta SD, Narayanan M (2017) Smart garbage monitoring system using sensors with RFID over internet of things. J Adv Res Dyn Control Syst 9(6):133–140

    Google Scholar 

  • Shahabdeen J (US Patent App. 14/578,184, June 23, 2016) Smart garbage bin

  • Sharholy M, Ahmad K, Mahmood G, Trivedi R (2008) Municipal solid waste management in Indian cities—a review. Waste Manage (Oxf) 28(2):459–467

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun J, Yan J, Zhang KZ (2016) Blockchain-based sharing services: what blockchain technology can contribute to smart cities. Financ Innov 2(1):26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Szabo N (1997) The idea of smart contracts. Nick Szabo’s Papers and Concise Tutorials 6

  • Vicentini F, Giusti A, Rovetta A, Fan X, He Q, Zhu M, Liu B (2009) Sensorized waste collection container for content estimation and collection optimization. Waste Manage (Oxf) 29(5):1467–1472

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vogelsteller F, Buterin V (2015) Erc-20 token standard. Ethereum Foundation (Stiftung Ethereum), Zug, Switzerland

  • Wang IL, Johnson EL, Sokol JS (2005) A multiple pairs shortest path algorithm. Transp Sci 39(4):465–476

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood G (2014) Ethereum: a secure decentralised generalised transaction ledger. Ethereum project yellow paper, vol 151, pp 1–32

Download references

Funding

No funding received.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science and Engineering, National Institute of Technology Silchar, Silchar, India

    Y. Sen Gupta & S. Mukherjee

  2. Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India

    R. Dutta

  3. Data Science & Analytics Unit, ITIS Department, Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg

    S. Bhattacharya

Authors
  1. Y. Sen Gupta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. S. Mukherjee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. R. Dutta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. S. Bhattacharya
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Not applicable.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Y. Sen Gupta.

Ethics declarations

Conflicts of interest

We declare that the manuscript is original, has not been published before, and is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere. We have no conflict of interest to disclose. As the corresponding author, I confirm that the manuscript has been read and approved for submission by all the named authors.

Code availability

Available upon request.

Additional information

Editorial responsibility: Samareh Mirkia.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sen Gupta, Y., Mukherjee, S., Dutta, R. et al. A blockchain-based approach using smart contracts to develop a smart waste management system. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 19, 7833–7856 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-021-03507-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-021-03507-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation